2024 Studio Post #27 - MQ Challenge Piece

 I'm blogging on Sunday, August 4, 2024, which means I'm back on track!

I bought the $5 challenge envelope last fall or over the winter . . . I don't really remember. It was a different way to do the challenge for sure! (Usually, we get some fat quarters of interesting fabrics.) The envelope had:

• a rectangle of bird fabric with one complete bird and several cut in half
• a piece of bright orange elastic (rounded, not super stretchy)
• a piece of silvery / teal thread (from France!)
• an elongated hexie (shape had to be used somewhere)
• a piece of black fabric with a rainbow hued grid all over it

 

The other fabrics in the picture are ones I picked out to use with the given pieces. I played around on paper with various ideas. It was fun to just brainstorm ways to use these pieces! I had some fun ideas, but ultimately decided to go with the scene of a bird on a nest in a tree. I used all the pieces of bird from my fabric! I even "Frankensteined" one at the top - the beak and body don't really match. 

 

I didn't get it completely done in time. I was at the venue in Duluth stitching my 3D leaves on it, with people offering to help. I had an hour left before the deadline, but decided to say, "Good enough." It felt so good to have a challenge in the show! I wish I'd taken a picture of all of them . . . it was amazing to see what people came up with! Louise's co-chair Mary won first place. It was such a fun challenge!

 

I liked the buttons I added as "eggs" in the nest. I liked playing with the leaves - both 2D and 3D. My stitching isn't very polished, but I had fun. 

I also had fun including all the bird pieces - with two just poking their tails out from behind the trunk. 

I like the blue "sky" fabric I picked and also the collage-type fabrics for the tree trunk and branches. 

The sun and sunrise effect didn't look quite like what I hoped for, but it gave me the name "Morning Glories." I also think of how much I love to hear bird song and see sunrises. I love to praise God in the morning (and all day long) and reflect on my blessings.

We're up at the lake and I brought this with to do a bit more stitching. I may or may not update this post with another photo. I don't want to feel pressured . . . I want to enjoy stitching. That said, it's nice to FINISH projects and celebrate getting something done. 

 

You can always add more, but sometimes you recognize it's time to move on to new projects.